Firearm.



No. 773,460. I PATENTED 001?. 25, 1904. W. H. BEKEN.

FIREARM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.19, 1903.

NO MODEL.

flfforney NITED STATES Patented October 25, 1904.

WILLIAM HARVEY BEKEN, OF VERNON CENTER, NEW YORK.

FIREARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 773,460, dated October 25,1904.

Application filed January 19, 1903. Serial No. 139,575. (No model.)

To (LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HARVEYBEKEN, of Vernon Center, in the county of Oneida, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Firearms, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in 1Q firearms, and refers more particularly to the class commonly known as repeating shotguns, in which the cartridges to be fired are stored end to end in a tubular magazine alongside and usually directly beneath the barrel 5 and are successively fed from the magazine and then conveyed to the barrel to be subsequently fired. In this class of gunsit is essential that the cartridges slide freely in both the magazine and barrel and still fit sufiiciently close to prevent undue lateral play. These cartridges are usually compressed in the magazine against the action of a spring, which spring operates to expel the cartridges one by one from the magazine onto the carrier by 5 which the ejected cartridge is conveyed into the barrel ready for firing. It has been discovered that the impact of the ends of the cartridges one against the other in the magazine due to the high degree of tension of the spring 3 causes the open ends or mouths of the cartridges to become jammed or battered to such an extent as to prevent the operation of the feeding action either by sticking in the magazine or, if ejected therefrom, they are frequently too large to enter the barrel. Another serious difiiculty is that when the cartridges are thus battered or jammed the carrier mechanism, which is necessarily delicate, performs its work imperfectly and sometimes causes the cartridges to become clogged in the receiver. It has been argued that this jamming efiect was largely due to the recoil of the gun immediately upon each discharge;

but after repeated experiments I have demon- ;strated that it is primarily due to the retention of the cartridges in the magazine under a high degree of spring compression, which is necessary to eject the cartridges one by one at each operation of the feeding action.

5 The object of my present invention is to prevent any jamming or other injurious efiect upon the cartridges without materially changing the present structure of the gun or adding to the expense of its manufacture.

Referring to the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 5 5 are side elevations of portions of a Winchester repeating shotgun, the feeding action being closed in Fig. 1 and opened in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the magazine and sliding handle, showing its series of cartridges in the magazine and my improved mechanism for ejecting the cartridges one by one. Fig. 4 is an inverted perspective view, partly in section, of the magazine seen in Fig. 3 and the ejector mechanism movable therein. 6 5 Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are sectionalviews taken, respectively, on lines 5 5, Fig. 3, and 6 6, Fig. 3, and line 7 7, Fig. 2.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views. 7

In the drawings I have shown a repeating shotgun having a receiver frame 1, upon which is mounted a barrel 2 .and a tubular magazine 3, the magazine being arranged beneath and-substantially parallel with the barrel 2, its rear end being detachably secured to the receiver 1, and its forward end is attached to the barrel by a suitable stirrup 4.

Mounted upon the receiver-frame 1 is a carrier 5, which is hinged at its rear end, and its forward end is movable vertically into and out of alinement with the breech ends of magazine and barrel for the purpose of receiving the ejected cartridges from the magazine and then conveying them to the barrel 5' to be subsequently fired. The means for. effecting this operation of the carrier 5 preferably consists of a sliding handle 7, which is mounted upon and movable longitudinally of the magazine 3, the rear end of said sliding 9 handle being provided with an extension 8, which is connected in any desired manner to operate the carrier 5, the means for connecting the sliding handle with the carrier forming no part of my present invention, and therefore it is unnecessary to further illustrate or describe the same.

Mounted within the magazine and movable lengthwise thereof is an ejector mechanism for forcing the cartridges one by one onto the carrier 5 at each rearward movement of the sliding handle 7. This ejector mechanism preferably consists of an abutment or head 10, a follower 11, and an interposed short spring 12, the head 10 and follower 11 being connected to each other by the spring 12, and the follower 11 is provided with a spring-actuated pawl 13 and aspring-detent 14, both of which project through a lengthwise slot 15, formed in the lower wall of the magazine.

A rock-shaft 16 is journaled within the sliding handle 7 and extends parallel with and lengthwise of the slot 15 in the lower face of the magazine, the normal upper face of said rock-shaft being provided with a series of shoulders 17, arranged one in advance of the other a distance substantially equal to the length of a cartridge, and I preferably provide a shoulder for each cartridge which may be inserted in the magazine. The rock-shaft 16 is secured from endwise movement to the sliding handle 7 and is adapted to move lengthwise of the magazine with said handle, the shoulders 17 being adapted to successively engage the pawl 13 for the purpose of moving the follower 11 rearwardly step by step to force the cartridges one by one from the magazine onto the carrier 5 at each action or rearward movement of the handle. As the follower 11 and head 10, connected thereto, are forced rearwardly the spring-detent 1 1, which is secured to the follower, rides along one of the walls of the slot 15 and engages one of a series of fixed shoulders 18 on the magazine for holding the follower and parts connected thereto from retrograde movement. The spring 12 serves to hold the head or abutment 10 against the adjacent first-inserted cartridge, as 20, under a light yielding pressure which is never sufiicient to expel the cartridge from the magazine, this expulsion of the cartridges being effected wholly by the lengthwise movement of the follower 11 and head 10, connected thereto by the spring 12.

I have thus far described the mechanism for forcing the cartridges one by one from the magazine onto the carrier 5, and in order to permit the reinsertion of additional cartridges when those in the magazine are exhausted it becomes necessary to trip the detent 14L from holding engagement with the shoulders 18 and to also disengage the pawl 13 from the shoulders 17. In order to accomplish this, I provide the rock-shaft 16 with a lengthwise fin 22 and an operating-handpiece 23, by which the shaft may be rocked to engage the fin 22 with the free end of the spring-detent 1 1 in such manner as to force said detent out of engagement with the shoulders 18, and at the same time the shoulders 17 are rocked to one side, so as to present a smooth bearingface on the shaft upon which the detent 13 may freely ride. When the shaft or rod 16 is rocked to the position just described, as seen in Fig. 6, the ejector mechanism, including the head 10, follower 11, and spring 12, and the parts connected thereto, may be forced forwardly until the forward end of the follower engages an end wall or cap 21, which closes the front end of the magazine. I

In the operation of my invention, assuming that the magazine is loaded to its full capacity, as seen in Fig. 3, and that the feeding action is closed, as seen in Fig. 1, in which instance the handle 7 is in its extreme forward position and the pawl 13 is engaged with the foremost shoulder l7, it being understood that the rock-shaft 16 is in its normal position, as seen in Fig. 5, then when it is desired to transfer one of the cartridges from the magazine to the barrel ready for firing the operator grasps the sliding handle 7 firmly and draws it rearwardly to the limit of its rearward movement as determined by a shoulder 25 on the inner face of the handle and a similar stop shoulder 26, surrounding the magazine, this movement being substantially equal to or slightly greater than the length of a cartridge, and the pawl 13 being in engagement with the extreme forward shoulder 17 it is apparent that the follower l1, spring 12, and abutment 10 will be carried rearwardly a similar distance and that the last-inserted cartridge will be expelled from the magazine. During this rearward movement of the handle 7 the carrier 5 is forced from its normal position to its open position (seen in Fig. 2) for receiving the expelled cartridge. While the sliding handle 7 and parts connected thereto are in this extreme rearward position, or

approximately so, the spring-detent 14 automatically engages one of the shoulders 18 in the side wall of the slot 15, and thereby prevents the forward movement of the follower 11, spring 12, and abutment 10. At the same time the abutment 10 holds the cartridges under a slight yielding pressure from rearward movement. After this operation the sliding handle 7 is returned forwardly to its normal position until the next succeeding shoulder 17 of the rock-bar 16 is engaged by the pawl 13. During this rearward movement of the sliding handle the carrier 5 is returned to its normal closed position and at the same time elevates and inserts the cartridge just expelled from the magazine into the barrel ready to be fired. It is thus seen that, the pawl 13 being now in engagement with the second shoulder 17 of the rod 16, when the sliding handle 7 is again moved rearwardly the action just described is repeated and a second shell is expelled from the magazine onto the carrier and is then i conveyed to the barrel by the forward movement of the sliding handle, suitable mechan- ;;L25

ism being provided for extracting the fired cartridge from the barrel at each movement of the feeding action; but owing to the fact that the means for removing the fired cartridges from the barrel forms no part of this invention it is not thought necessary to further illustrate or describe the same. After the cartridges have all been expelled from the magazine and it is desired to refill said magazine the handpiece 23 is engaged by the operator and rocked downwardly against the action of a suitable spring 27 for forcing the shoulders 17 out of alinement with the pawl 13 and also for moving the detent 14 out of registration with the shoulders 18,whereupon the cartridges may be successively inserted in the magazine against the head or abutment 10, which through the medium of the spring 12 forces the follower 11 forwardly to the limit of its movement against the cap 21.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a repeating gun, the combination with a barrel, a magazine for the cartridges, and a carrier, of a follower sliding endwise in the magazine, a pawl operatively connected to the follower, a toothed bar sliding lengthwise of the magazine to engage the pawl and move the follower step by step and means for breaking operative connection between the pawl and teeth of the bar.

2. In a repeating gun, the combination with a barrel, a magazine for the cartridges, and a carrier, of a follower having a yielding abutment and sliding endwise in the magazine, a pawl operatively connected to the follower, and a toothed bar sliding lengthwise of the magazine to engage the pawl and move the follower step by step, said bar having an independent rocking movement to break operative connection between the teeth and the pawl.

3. In a repeating gun, the combination with -a barrel, a carrier and a magazine for the cartridges,afollower slid able endwise in the magazine and havinga yielding abutment, atoothed bar slidable lengthwise of the magazine and operatively connected to move the follower step by step, a movable detent on the follower and fixed shoulders coacting with the detent to hold the follower in its adjusted position, the toothed bar having an independent movement to throw its teeth out of operative connection with the pawl and also operating to trip the detent.

4. Inarepeating gun, the combination with a barrel, a magazine for the cartridges, and a carrier, of a yielding abutment sliding endwise in the magazine, a toothed bar sliding lengthwise of the magazine and operatively connected to move the abutment step by step, a series of fixed shoulders and a movable detent on the follower and successively engaging said shoulders to hold the abutment in its adjusted position, said bar having an independent rocking movement to trip the detent.

5. In a repeating gun, the combination with a barrel, a magazine for the cartridges, and a carrier, of a follower sliding endwise in the magazine, a pawl on the follower, a tooth-bar movable back and forth lengthwise of the magazine a distance substantially equal to the length of the cartridge to engage the pawl and move the follower step by step at each rearward movement of the bar, shoulders on the magazine, and a movable detent on the follower engaging said shoulders successively for holding the follower in its adjusted position, said tooth-bar having an independent movement to trip the detent.

6. In arepeating gun, the combination with a barrel, a magazine, and a carrier for conveying the cartridges from the magazine to the barrel, a follower slidable in the magazine and provided with a spring-detent, shoulders on the magazine engaged by the detent as the follower is moved forwardly for holding the follower from opposite movement, a sliding handle on the magazine, a rocking member on the handle having operative connection to move the follower, the rocking of said member operating to release the detent and to break connection with the follower sothat the follower may be moved forwardly by the insertion of the cartridges in the magazine.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of January, 1903.

WVILLIAM HARVEY BEKEN. 

